Dental cements play a vital role in dentistry and resin-based dental cements are becoming widely used. Cements in dentistry are typically used to attach a dental fabrication/prosthetic (e.g. brackets, crowns, bridges, etc.) to dental structures (e.g. teeth) by placing a thin layer of cement at the tooth-fabrication interface. In most cases, excess cement is present and flows from the interface and needs to be removed. Removing excess cement is typically done before any curing or before complete curing of the cement. This step of excess cement removal is often repetitive and/or difficult to perform because the excess cement is usually present in a confined area. As a result, cement removal is often not done in a very accurate fashion and/or takes a lot of time for a dental professional to remove. For example, during the placement of a dental crown or bridge, excess cement should be removed from the margins of the restoration before the cement is completely cured; accordingly this step must be done quickly and can induce some stress (and thus increase the likelihood of error) for the clinician that must acquit this task precisely and quickly.
These and other drawbacks are present in the art.
Exemplary embodiments are directed to dental materials and applications that employ upconversion phosphors useful in overcoming various existing drawbacks as more fully described herein.